Daily Five: 2017’s Most Disappointing Teams

Oregon State? Close. BYU? Absolutely. Nebraska, Cincinnati, Illinois and Colorado State? All within range, but no. It took something truly special to be on the list of the five most disappointing teams, and here they are.

How is this done? It starts with where the teams were put in the 2017 CFN Preseason Rankings – based on opinions, beliefs, and how good the teams were supposed to be.

Granted, since the first rankings are done based on our judgements, it’s our fault for not seeing how bad they’d be. But disappointing is disappointing.

5. North Carolina

2017 CFN Preview Ranking: 44

From the Preview: The Tar Heels are missing a slew of key skill players, but the defense – yes, the North Carolina defense – should carry the team just enough for the new guys on O to get ready.

2017 CFN Historical Season Ranking: 109

That didn’t work out quite as planned. It was a young team that struggled out of the gate, suffered a slew of injuries, and never got those performances out of the offensive new guys. It was a 3-9 season with late wins over Pitt and Western Carolina helping to salvage a little something, but not enough.

4. Arkansas

2017 CFN Preview Ranking: 30

From the Preview: The Hogs will have the beef to blast away, but Austin Allen and the passing game will take over – again. There’s just enough to be dangerous, but not enough to win the SEC West.

2017 CFN Historical Season Ranking: 100

The Hog defense decided not to join us this season. It got powered over by TCU in the second game of the year, and it didn’t do much the rest of the way in loss after loss after loss. The Hogs finished with a 4-8 record, but only the 39-38 win over Ole Miss on the road was anything to get excited about.

3. Tennessee

2017 CFN Preview Ranking: 28

From the Preview: Once again, the Vols have more than enough talent to win the SEC East. Once again, they’ll almost certainly find a way to underachieve. There’s experience and skill, but it has to equate to wins.

2017 CFN Historical Season Ranking: 99

The offense forgot to score. The team looked like it would fight through the problems and concerns after a 3-1 start – with that one loss coming on a breakdown late against Florida – and then the bottom dropped out with just 16 points over the next three games, and a 1-7 run the rest of the way.

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2. Florida

2017 CFN Preview Ranking: 13

From the Preview: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Florida was able to land Malik Zaire – but he’s hardly a proven longterm quarterback. The D will be great again, the running game sound, and there will be a few big moments, but the Gators need more fun and gun.

2017 CFN Historical Season Ranking: 87

The season started off with suspensions to players the offense couldn’t afford to lose, but a 3-1 start made it look like yet another charmed season under Jim McElwain – mediocre team; good results. But the luck ran out in close losses to LSU and Texas A&M, and it didn’t get any better going 1-6 after September.

1. Baylor

2017 CFN Preview Ranking: 40

From the Preview: It’s not going to be the high-powered fun show of past Baylor teams and offenses, but it’ll still be dangerous. New head coach Matt Rhule first has to work on the D – and changing the program’s national profile.

2017 CFN Historical Season Ranking: 126

There might not have been the talent of past seasons, and it was supposed to be a bit of a struggle, but to go 1-11 with a loss to Liberty to kick things off, it was a miserable first season under Matt Rhule. The team was feisty at times, and it battled hard against Oklahoma and West Virginia, but when your only win is against Kansas, things didn’t go well.